Monday, March 5, 2012

It's been some busy times, and now they have paid off. In this last week I have had two articles published, so a small synopsis is given here.

The first article concerns the Star of Bethlehem and its history of interpretation. I focus on scientific versions of the object, but there is plenty of other points as well. Unlike other articles, this one does not propose a theory or say which ones are best. I will save that for some other time. The article itself is published by Zygon: Journal of Science and Religion, and the issue my article is in is up for free until the end of the year! Give it a read either online or download the PDF (link is to the abstract).

The other article is based on my master's/candidacy paper with my adviser. It concerns the teaching modality of project-based learning (PBL), a subset of inquiry-based instruction; this is a general review of the subject, including its characteristics, history, and effectiveness. It also discusses the best ways to implement PBL, what difficulties it has, and how to test and see the effectiveness of a curriculum. This went through a lot of revision, so its content should be well-vetted and useful. The comparison between PBL and other teaching methods, such as traditional lecture-based instruction and some of the more innovative methods from the mid-late 20th century, is unique and ought to be helpful. Like the Zygon article above, this one is online for free, but it should be up there indefinitely. It's from the journal REAL: Research in Education, Assessment, and Learning, and it is focused on physics education research, though it is more expansive than that.

All in all, a good week last week getting things through the peer review process. Hope to have a several more things published this year, so stay tuned.